General Hand break light when cornering

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General Hand break light when cornering

Yes, you need to check why the level is low.
Has it suddenly dropped, or was it a slow gradual drop?
(the above you'll only know if you have been checking the level)

A sudden unexpected drop is likely to be a failed pipe or cylinder.
A VERY slow gradual drop may just be due to pad wear.

I've experienced both.
In my Alfa 156 I was intentionally allowing the level to drop with the pad wear as I was going to replace the fluid at the next pad change. The low fluid light started to come on in corners & under braking just before the pads were fully worn.
In my Fiat Cinq, always checking the level and always at full (the Cinq pads don't seam to wear!!) the light suddenly came on and stayed on and it was due to a failed rear brake cylinder (clue was the puddle of brake fluid at the back of the wheel...).
 
thats not uncommon
the hydraulic system is self adjusting
so wear in any of the brakes will show most of the fluid level drop
The clutch is going to contribute but no way near as much as brakes do

unless uve got a leak....

Ziggy

depending how worn brakes are would mean fluid level down
not necessarily a leak
this is why light comes on to warn that reserve fluid is low

that brakes need replacing
that clutch slave is leaking
that part of the braking system is leaking

i call it an idiot light
its a last resort and a fail safe to warn something is amiss
see it as a dead mans handle
 
Bottom line - weekly checks. When I were a lad the reservoirs were paint tins with jamjar lids. Now they go to all the trouble of making them semi transparent so you can check without letting the air see the fluid and yet the idiot light is seen as a requirement. What next? a camera under the bonnet?
 
I've just bought a Punto after 3 years of 'cento ownership and mine does this; but I had presumed it was linked to the very wobbly right rear end which I expect to find is the rear trailing arm bush gone. I had thought the play in the arm was pulling on the cable causing the light to come on but I have no scientific reason for thinking this it was just a hunch.
Bit of a thread hijack but the back really steps out over the smallest bump, I haven't had chance to check yet but do we suspect trailing arm bushes or could a shock absorber alone do this (very noricable even at low speeds).
 
As Ziggy says, it should be low down the list of checks, but the rather obscure one is the handbrake position detector. Mine had actually severed a wire behidn the connector and cornering was causing it to touch the casing which triggered the handbrake light. This was on a mk1 mind, and it was really easy to strip down the connector, shorten the wire a tad and reassemble.
 
As Ziggy says, it should be low down the list of checks, but the rather obscure one is the handbrake position detector. Mine had actually severed a wire behidn the connector and cornering was causing it to touch the casing which triggered the handbrake light. This was on a mk1 mind, and it was really easy to strip down the connector, shorten the wire a tad and reassemble.


I think its literally a Switch thats availible from maplins?
Its got a standard spade connector on it...

You could disconnect the handbrake switch warning, go for a spin, it'll tell you if the problem is the switch or not

Thats assuming disconnecting wont activate it

Ziggy
 
Disconnecting shouldn't activate it. Both the handbrake and reservoir switches are normally open and making the switch either pulling the handbrake or low fluid puts the lamp on. As Mike says the effect of the supply wire grounding is the same as the switch making. Effectively the lamp lighting does not mean either fluid low or handbrake on , it simply means that one of the supply wires has gone to earth.
 
I think its literally a Switch thats availible from maplins?
Its got a standard spade connector on it...

You could disconnect the handbrake switch warning, go for a spin, it'll tell you if the problem is the switch or not

Thats assuming disconnecting wont activate it

Ziggy

Come to think of it, that's how I diagnosed the fault :slayer:
 
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